Monday, February 4, 2013

ARC Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publishing Date: January 8th, 2013
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 368 pgs
ISBN: 9780525425915
Source: Borrowed ARC from a fellow blogger for an honest review



Summary from Goodreads:
A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay
When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!

My Review: 

Well, what can I say about this book?  I had so many emotions when reading this book.  It is a novel about a young girl who has just graduated high school and is off to university.  During the summer before university, she takes a trip with her best friend to Europe and
 along the way she meets a handsome young man named Willem.  Oh, Willem- you made me fall in love and then hate you all at the same time.  I was so glad that many of my blogger friends had read this book before me because I kept bombarding them with texts about this book.  I think this book brought out all the feelsAllyson is on a roller coaster of emotions throughout the entire novel and as a reader you are right there with her throughout the whole thingIt is told entirely in her perspective and you can't help but sympathize with herI do have to say one thing about that though is that at times you feel extremely frustrated by her as well.  It is very difficult to write this review without revealing too much about the plot.  Overall this is a very well written book but that was to be expected considered Forman's other novels If I Stay and Where She Went.   I have to say that I also really liked the cast of supporting characters in this novel.  I loved Allyson's best friend and I really like how Forman showed the slow growing apart of high school best friends.  This has happened to me in the past and it happens pretty much the way it is written in the book.  It doesn't happen with just one large blowout but with a series of events that cause a bit of distance between two people.  People grow up and change and sometimes our childhood relationships don't last forever.  I have to admit that I was so disappointed by the end of this book.  It's not because I don't think the book wasn't great but because it was so good that I just want to know what happens next.  Is Willem the Willem that I fell for in the beginning or is he the colossal douche that we meet in the middle of the book.  The next novel will be told in his perspective and I think he has a lot of explaining to do to make me like him again.  I can't wait to read what Forman has in store for us next!  This is a great read and I would definitely recommend it.  
  

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